A Chance For Happiness
by Resident Evil Lionhart
Summary: Vincent opens his eyes in another dimension and meets Sephiroth with Cloud and some other people who are supposed to be dead. Now he has to save the world with them, though he may have to save his dignity first! Set pregame. Seph X Vincent YAOI!
1. Chapter 1: Only Four Left

******I dremt this up one day and decided to put it up. Let me know what you think!**

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><p><strong>A Chance for Happiness<strong>

Chapter One: Only Four Left…

Opening his eyes slightly, Vincent Valentine realized that he was not where he had last closed his eyes. His long black hair floated around his face, obscuring his vision of anything outside of the Mako tank he recognized as one of the evil scientist Hojo's.

How he got into it, he didn't know. Especially since Hojo was _**dead**_ and all his labs had gotten destroyed by himself and his friends. How someone had caught him while he was sleeping in Tifa's Seventh Heaven when Cloud was home and managed to drag him all the way to some remote lab that hadn't been found yet, was completely beyond his imagination.

He needed to find out what happened and if his friends were okay. However, when he tried to lift his human hand he could hardly lift it high enough to place his palm on the glass. Luckily, it was high enough for him to realize that he was naked. For, he rarely took his red and black leather outfit off. Not even to sleep, no matter how safe he felt. And he _never_ took his cape off. Now that Chaos had returned to the planet, he could access Chaos' form without pain and he needed the cape because it turned into his wings. Without that cape, he couldn't turn into Chaos' form.

He seemed to be gaining a longer and longer list of things that needed to be accomplished, and, as he was an extremely organized individual, he needed to set priorities. Priority one would be getting out of the tank, two would be finding his cape, three would be to find some clothes or at least something to wear, and four would be to find out where he was so he could return and tell of this remaining lab. That seemed about right.

Only problem he could see was that he was too weak to break out of the tank. He suspected that he wouldn't even be able to walk -for several hours _at least- _once he _did_ get out of the tank. It was a vicious cycle though.

In order to get stronger, he needed to get out of that tank. Mako, if admitted to prolonged contact with, made a person weaker and weaker until they got Mako poisoning and became a vegetable. Too much more after a person became a vegetable and they died a physically painless death. Mentally, they're mangled so badly that the Lifestream doesn't even accept them anymore.

Well, for normal people that's how it goes. For Cloud and himself though, they merely got weaker or became a vegetable. It never got worse than that and once they were freed from the Mako, they were fine again after a few days. Normal people, once they got Mako poisoning, never recovered their original strength -physically or mentally.

Even weakened though, Vincent's hearing was better than any living person on the Planet. That is what alerted him to 'visitors' in the lab, when there had been no sound other than that of the bubbling Mako in the tank.

Having already deduced that he had been left in an abandoned lab, he had to wonder who it was that had found him. Yes, he believed they knew where he was. They had to; since they were making a beeline right for the room he was in from the sound of it.

Could it be his friends? Had they found him somehow?

Or was it the person who had kidnapped (odd way to term it since he was technically over 50 years old) him?

He had the feeling he would find out in just a few moments. He also had the feeling that he would detest the answer once he got it.

Too late to do anything now anyway, all he could do was close his eyes again and hope they thought he was asleep still.

He heard the automatic door hiss open and the footsteps of six battle trained adults and knew it couldn't be his friends.

He only had four left…


	2. Chapter 2: Wrong Outfit

**I already had two chapters written so here's the second one!**

**Disclaimer (Because I forgot it in the first chapter): I do not own Final Fantasy VII or its characters. I don't even own the game anymore and besides, I would have made it a Boy's Love Game like all the Yaoi fanpeople out there. That and it wouldn't have been so depressing a game.**

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><p>Chapter Two: Wrong Outfit<p>

"Whoa! I didn't even think it possible for Hojo to _**be**_ this demented," a youthful voice echoed in the nearly empty room.

"Look at all those scars. Is that an _**autopsy**_ scar?" a more quiet but still youthful voice asked incredulously.

"Yes." answered simply a voice that Vincent remembered well.

_But how? _He wondered, as close to frantic as he got. _Isn't he supposed to be __dead__?_

"Is he even alive?" asked another voice. This one he recognized as well. _Shouldn't he be dead too? _Vincent asked himself, calmer now that he realized that they weren't attacking.

"Let me check the vitals monitor."

There was silence except for the footsteps of the One Winged Angel, Sephiroth, walking closer to inspect the monitor near Vincent's feet at the base of the tank.

"He's alive, but appears to be suffering Mako poisoning,"

"Does it say what his name is?" asked the first man, the sound of his shifting around coming to Vincent easily.

"It just calls him Project V."

"It must suck to be dehumanized like that," a new voice mumbled sadly.

"Don't cry, Loz," the voice that had asked if he was alive said while obviously smirking.

"I'm not crying!" Loz replied angrily.

"It does." confirmed Sephiroth, ignoring the bickering youths.

"I still find it hard to believe that you were treated that way long ago too, Seph," the first voice said cheerfully, also ignoring the other two.

"So what are we going to do about him?" asked the one who had mentioned his scars earlier.

Sephiroth seemed to be thinking, as there was total silence. You would have been able to hear a pin drop on carpet, it was so quiet. The room seemed to be waiting for his answer.

"We'll take him with us," Sephiroth finally decided. "That okay with you, Cloud?"

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><p>So shocked was he that Vincent opened his eyes to make certain that he had heard correctly. Cloud with Sephiroth and not fighting spelt disaster for the whole world!<p>

Everyone but Cloud and Sephiroth jumped when his glowing red eyes lit up the room.

What he saw was Sephiroth still at the control computer at the base of the tank; Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo standing behind him staring at Vincent; Cloud had walked up closer to Sephiroth when he had asked him his opinion and was looking a Sephiroth; and a spiky, black haired man Cloud had once described to Vincent: Zackary Fair. All of them but Cloud were dead-men, so how was it that they were all in the same room?

From their conversation just now, they were not the ones who had kidnapped him. How did they find him and what did they intend to do with him?

"I don't see what the problem would be," Cloud answered Sephiroth after some time.

"You don't see the problem! His eyes are glowing _**red**_!" Kadaj practically screamed while pointing at Vincent's eyes, causing Sephiroth and Cloud to finally look up.

Vincent looked down at them as they looked up and Vincent realized something he never would have dreamed up. It was worse than any nightmare Vincent has ever had, and Vincent has had some really horrific ones in his life.

This didn't even seem to be his dimension, for Sephiroth's pupils were normal and Cloud was wearing a Second Class SOLDIER's uniform of blue.

The shock was just too much and, as Vincent's head began to throb, his vision grew black and he knew no more.


	3. Chapter 3: Waking Up Questions

**Hey everyone and sorry for the long update. I just sort of hit a writer's block, so if everyone who was interested could maybe give suggestions/ideas or anything at all, it would be much appreciated.**

**Disclaimer: These get so old so fast. I don't own Final Fantasy Vii or any of it's characters/places or even a plushie. DX**

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><p>Chapter Three: Waking Up Questions<p>

So used to floating in Mako was his body that when he woke up to find that he was laying on a soft bed, everything ached. The pain's what woke him up, and the sounds of movement in another room is what kept him awake.

Remembering what had happened when he had been awake last time, Vincent opened his eyes to see where he was this time. He didn't recognize the room -which was a shock in and of itself, for he had been everywhere on the Planet- whose walls were painted a light, calming blue and whose furniture was tan. There was a nightstand next to the bed on his left, with a black alarm clock resting on it and a small gold lamp with a rectangular green porcelain shade that could be swiveled to block light in one direction or another. On his right was a window with a curtain of the same color as Vincent's eyes that would block all sunlight during the day. Across from the bed was a dresser with five drawers, and right next to it was the navy blue door. The handle of said door was made of something akin to crystal.

Other than the curtain, Vincent had to wonder at the owner's taste in colors. The odd mix seemed a bit…Childish.

A set of footsteps warned Vincent of the approach of one of the people he had heard before, and likely the same people he had seen at the lab.

The door opened and the man with black spikes for hair -Zack, Vincent remembered- came walking in with a tray of food and a bottle of water.

"Seph said you'd most likely be awake by now," he grinned as he walked up to the bed and placed the tray on the nightstand, in front of the alarm clock. "You need any help sitting up?"

Shrugging, Vincent attempted to hoist himself up by his arms, but failed miserably and ended up flopping back down against the pillows.

"I thought so. Usually Mako poisoning takes several weeks to get over just the weakness in the arms and legs." Zack said after he placed his hands on his hips while watching his failed attempt. "Here, let me help you."

Zack bent down and placed one hand on Vincent's back while placing his other on Vincent's other shoulder. Pulling as Vincent struggled to sit up straight, he managed to get Vincent -and the three soft pillows behind him- situated against the headboard. Then, he grabbed the tray and placed it on Vincent's lap, above the blue comforter that spread out from Vincent's hips.

"Need any help eating?" Zack asked, head tilted to the side, as if curious.

Picking up the spoon and the bowl -it would seem that his arms were still strong enough for this, at least- Vincent shook his head no.

Nodding in satisfaction, Zack turned around and, as he got to the door, he turned around saying, "I'll come back in a half an hour for the dirty dishes. If you need something, just yell. One of us is always here, so we'll be here for you," before walking out and down the hall.

Silently amazed at how kind and thoughtful Zack was -Cloud had been biased and Vincent had believed him to be describing his personality as he had seen him, not as he was- Vincent turned his attention to his food and began scooping the warm soup into his mouth. He had no clue how long he had gone without food, but even this chicken noodle soup tasted almost beyond description and before he knew it, he was scarfing it down.

He was done in less time than Zack had given him, and he was still hungry. Vincent didn't feel like calling out just for more food, so he set the tray back on the nightstand and leaned back into the pillows. They were comfortable enough for him to be able to fall back asleep, so he allowed the comfort of oblivion to lull him back into a dreamless sleep.

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><p>Voices whispering too close to him woke him up this time. However, he did not open his eyes. He was curious as to what had to be said in the room with him, and did not want to chance them leaving to continue the conversation elsewhere.<p>

"…is he even here? He was one of the enemy! How do you know that he isn't spying on us even now?" A shrill but obviously male voice asked.

"Genesis, calm down. You'll wake him." Sephiroth said calmly while making a sound that translated to a gesture. Vincent guessed that it was towards himself, since he was the only one in the room.

"I don't care about him! From what you said, he was in a Mako tank and wouldn't understand anyway. I need to know the answer, Sephiroth!"

Sephiroth sighed and a rustling sound had Vincent imagining him with his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Zack pledges for him, and you _know_ how the puppy is good with persuasion. If you want something done about him, or you want answers, go ask Angeal's puppy. He can answer that better than me."

"Fine. But if he betrays us, I am holding you _both_ responsible!"

The sound of feet quietly stomping away, and then silence. A few seconds later and he swore he heard Sephiroth mumble, "Responsible and the puppy just don't fit in the same sentence."

Then there was the sound of quiet snickers, and the rustle of leather as Sephiroth stepped out as well.

Left reeling, Vincent had to wonder who they had been talking about. Vincent knew Genesis of course. Not personally, but from people talking about him and Cloud's recount of the fight at the reactor that one time. Sephiroth's friend, or something along those lines.

And he called Zack a "puppy" and "Angeal's puppy." Curious and even more curious.

So now, Vincent knew that Genesis not only thought of him as no threat, but thought of someone else as a possible spy.

Who it could be, though, was the question. As far as he could remember, there had been no spy, but this was hardly the same reality anymore.

He would figure it out once he was better.


	4. Chapter 4: Bad Omens?

**I finally got over my writers block! I wrote all of this and partial fifth chapter in one night! Woot!**

**Anyway, This one turned out much longer that I had thought it would, but I think I'm quite happy with it over all. Action in this one this time, and a little warming up to Seph and some more of Genesis' personality too. I just adore Genesis, but I don't think I'm any good at portraying him, oh well. Here's to hoping that the fifth one will be as good!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, not even the Wutain or the horrible chapter title.**

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><p>Chapter Four: Bad Omens?<p>

This time, when Vincent became conscious, he was alone again in the odd room. Knowing his hearing like he did, Vincent was a bit surprised at the total silence in the entire building. Didn't Zack say someone would be inside at all times of the day or night?

Then, he heard it. Soft sounds coming from outside the unknown building he was in, seeming to almost float into his head. No matter how soft it was though, he would recognize that sound anywhere.

The ring of battle on a scale close to that of small armies clashing.

That would explain the quietness of the building if not for one thing: his hearing was so good that he should have been able to hear the inevitably loud fighting as if it was right in his ear. How ever, he did not panic- after all, the other occupants were SOLDIERs who had great hearing. They probably had it custom soundproofed so that they wouldn't go crazy from the sounds of the outside world.

Someone of lesser hearing ability wouldn't have heard the fight at all.

Gingerly sitting up, he tested out his body's reaction to movement.

_Not too bad, considering,_ he thought with a slight wince of pain due to an all-over ache, pulling back the covers and looking for his effects. He could only hope that they had found his stuff before bringing him here.

He found them as he stood from the bed, in the corner between the closet and the red curtains on a chair. Cautiously, testing his leg muscles, he almost effortlessly walked quietly to the chair. He always had been a quick healer between what Hojo did to him and the demons.

Within minutes he had his black leather jacket, pants, glove, and sabatons on and was working on reattaching the holster for Cerberus onto his right leg.

_Thankfully, they found and brought my cape too, _he thought as he finished with the holster and was buckling up all the buckles on his high collared, torn, crimson cape. Last but not least, he pulled his long bangs out of his face with the red headband that completed his outfit.

Looking around the room, Vincent wondered how his stuff had managed to follow him into the alternate reality, but Cerberus' keychain was still missing…

Deciding that he would figure it out later, Vincent walked to the door wondering if they had locked him in. Just in case, he used his metal claw to twist the doorknob. It turned out to not be necessary, and he stepped out into the hall where the noises were arguably louder.

Trusting his sensitive ears and paying the place little attention beyond making sure to be quiet and not trip on stuff, he followed the rapidly increasing sound around twists and even down some stairs to what appeared to be the front doors. These he did pay attention to and even marvel at. They were expensive looking red oak, a rare thing these days. Or at least, in his reality it was.

Twisting the knob of the right door, he found that this door _was_ locked and pulled out Cerberus. There was a war on the other side, he didn't think a little more noise would stop anything. Taking aim, he shot the tri-barreled pistol, taking out the lock and more besides - it was a big gun. Trying the knob this time gained better results and he opened the door - just in time to dodge a body flung his way. Looking at it, he came to the conclusion that it must be one of the enemy because it didn't even look remotely SOLDIER.

Taking stock of what was going on around him, he saw those he knew battling those he didn't. Genesis was fighting four at once and it seemed like the sword-mage was playing with them, wearing them down, then killing them when they could no longer keep up. Zack and Cloud -who were using broad swords a little shorter than the Buster- were fighting together against two or three at a time, back to back. It seemed like Cloud needed it more than Zack did. The triplets were slashing, pummeling, and shooting through enemies right and left, faster than the enemy could keep track. An older brunette SOLDIER, whom he assumed was Angeal, was using a broad sword in one hand and what Vincent recognized as the Buster Sword in another. It felt weird to see the blade in good condition and in use after the years it had sat vigilantly over Zack's death spot. Sephiroth was nowhere to be seen.

The enemies they were combating seemed to be a mix between ninjas and other Wutain fighters. Distantly, he wondered where they currently were and why the Wutain were here. Could SOLDIER have started a war like they had in his reality?

Glancing around the battlefield, he spotted a higher place he could jump to so he could see better. Perhaps Sephiroth was fighting further in the mass of Wutain?

Once in his vantage spot, he used his keen eyesight to look for signs of Sephiroth. Large slash marks, deep furrows in the ground, that sort of thing. Suddenly, he felt a presence at his back and whipped around, Cerberus raised.

Well, at least he knew where Sephiroth was now.

"What do you think you're doing up? And out here, no less." Sephiroth's quiet, steel like voice reprimanded, his normal pupil eyes narrowed. The worry he saw in those eyes unnerved him more than anything at this point, and he slowly lowered the gun.

Quietly, so quietly that Sephiroth could barely hear it over the racket down below, Vincent replied, "I heard fighting and came to investigate."

Eyes widened as shock replaced the worry. Vincent knew that he was wondering how Vincent could hear from the soundproofed house and how he managed to even stand after the Mako poisoning he'd had.

"You heard the fighting…," Sephiroth repeated, disbelief coloring his normally monotone voice.

Vincent nodded, knowing that it would take some time for him to get used to it. It had taken Cloud and the others a _month_ to get over and get used to his super hearing.

"Sephiroth, what are you doing!" Genesis yelled, his voice drifting up the roof to them even over the clash of battle.

Momentarily ignoring him, Sephiroth asked, "Do you plan to help?"

"I do." Vincent nodded and turned back to the edge of the roof as Sephiroth gracefully hopped down to rejoin the battle.

"What took you so long?" Genesis huffed good naturedly as he joined him.

"Talking to our guest. Apparently he has decided that he is well enough to join in the battle."

Shocked, Genesis asked incredulously, "Is he okay enough for that?"

Smiling wryly, Sephiroth answered, "He was well enough to jump onto the roof in one jump, _and_ he sensed me when I snuck up behind him. What does that tell you?"

Genesis gave a low whistle before being forced to give his concentration back on who he was fighting.

Turning his senses back to the rest of the area, Vincent observed who was winning. The SOLDIERs were, but there were just so many of the Wutain that he knew they were going to be over run soon.

Hoping that his body would hold, he holstered Cerberus and then concentrated. A black and crimson bubble of energy surrounded him and blew the wind into a mild gust in his immediate position. Popping the bubble, Chaos' wings spread causing the colored gust to flash outward, ripping up roof tiles. Chaos' roar as he did so caught everyone's attention and the fighting stopped as everyone turned to stare.

Seeing that everyone was paying him their undivided attention, Vincent quietly spoke using Chaos' multi-toned voice, "What is this about?"

When no one answered, he roared again, this time with wings spread out in a threat display, causing most to flinch and tremble at his fury. "Answer me!"

Bravely, a Wutain who had been fighting Cloud spoke up, "We are here for revenge. These SOLDIERs have stolen something from us."

Relaxing now that he was getting answers, Chaos asked, "And what is it that they stole?"

"You." came the quiet answer from his far left. Recognizing the voice as Sephiroth, Vincent recognized the truth in his voice.

"Me." he repeated softly, his glowing gold eyes flashing at the Wutain causing them to flinch again.

"We didn't have a demon!" the brave one from earlier frowned, clearly confused. "We had a Turk."

"Then that _was_ me." Chaos almost whispered. Slowly, he lifted his right hand to the side and energy was concentrated in the palm of his hand. A gun materialized, dissipating the energy as it did so. "This gun is called the Death Penalty. Let's see what it decides."

Aiming at the Wutain who had spoken, Chaos grinned as he fired the powerful weapon. A beam of dark energy shot out of the gun, taking out a hundred Wutain behind his target and almost hitting Cloud. Vincent knew what he was doing, though, and knew he wouldn't have hit Cloud. He had been a friend once, and even Vincent didn't stoop that low without provocation.

Grin widening into madcap, Chaos grew just a bit louder as he purred, "Guilty."

Faced with a demon from their myths and its obvious pleasure in killing, the Wutain turned and ran. Well, the hundred or so that were left. Turning to Sephiroth, the only one besides Zack that he would acknowledge out loud, he said quietly again and with the grin magically gone, "That should halt that problem for now."

After a moment or two of silence, the shock wore off on the triplets. They began trembling and Kadaj practically screamed, "I told you his red eyes were a bad omen!"

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><p><strong>AN: I had to call Chaos' form Chaos when he did something, since it seemed lame to keep calling him "Chaos' form" you know?**


	5. Chapter 5: ADayofUnbelievableDiscoveries

**Keep those reviews coming! Thanks to all of you who have read this!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy or any of its characters or places. Not even a chibi plushie.**

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><p>Chapter Five: A Day of Unbelievable Discoveries<p>

"Kadaj," Sephiroth's voice was loaded with disapproval. "He is an experiment like we are. It's rude to treat him the same way we often get treated."

They had sojourned to the sofa in the spacious Living room with Vincent standing against the wall at the door -his usual spot during meetings with his friends. Sephiroth had sat in a reclining chair at the wall opposite the large front doors, glaring at Kadaj and the other two clones. Genesis and Angeal were sitting on a loveseat to Sephiroth's right, while Cloud and Zack were sitting on one to his left. The triplets were on a three person couch across an immaculate glass coffee table from him.

"Yeah, makes you sound kinda like a hypocrite!" Zack was smiling through it all like always. Vincent swore he hadn't seen a sad face on that boy in all the short while he had known him. It was kind of driving on his nerves that they had decided that telling off the triplets was more important than explaining how they had found him in the abandoned lab, in _**Wutai **_of all places!

Vincent hadn't been to Wutai since Yuffie…And before that, when his mother had died when he was ten.

Thankfully, the SOLDIERs had taken him back to Midgar while he had been unconscious and he wasn't there, at a place full of bad memories. He wanted _nothing_ to do with Wutai.

"Yeah, but his eyes are _**red**_! As in _**demonic!"**_

Sephiroth pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. The boys were beginning to show their naivety again. The man was an experiment. His eyes could be fucking rainbow colored and it wouldn't change who he was. The eyes had nothing to do with it. One had to look at the aura of a person to know them at first glance.

Deciding that he'd had enough about his eyes, Vincent changed the subject.

"What do you know of my incarceration at the lab?"

Gaining everyone's attention with his soft words, he stared at Sephiroth intently. As the leader of everyone else here, he would be the one to answer. It was how the military worked, and everyone in the room knew it.

They just didn't know how well he knew it.

"Not much beyond the anonymous tip we received a couple days before we found you," Sephiroth eyed him back, knowing another leader when he saw one.

"There were no clues to the person's whereabouts?"

"None. The only reason we agreed to even check it out was because Zack had tripped on the entrance a few hours previously."

"Then it would appear that I owe you gratitude, Zack," Vincent directed to the brunette youngster.

"How does he even know his name?" One of the triplets asked his brothers in a whisper.

"Don't be stupid Loz. I told him my name when..."

"You didn't. I referenced you to your file I saw, and someone's description of you." Vincent hastened to interrupt quietly.

"File? How'd you get his file?" Angeal asked, worried about his pup.

"I was a Turk. Nothing can be hidden from one, not even one as out of the loop as I myself am."

"Impossible," Kadaj sneered. "If you could access his file, why haven't you turned us in?"

"Simple. I intend to use you for my own plans. As for proving my abilities, allow me to demonstrate. From easiest to obtain to hardest:

"Cloud Strife - Seventeen, Second Class, strongest class was swordsmanship, worst was Logistics, wants to be like Sephiroth and be a great hero, best friend: Zackary Fair, grew up in Nibelheim, being watched for turning traitor with the General along with others by the Turks;

"Zackary Fair - Twenty-one, First Class, Strongest class: swordsmanship, worst: Theory of Materia, follows his dreams to become a hero like Angeal his mentor, friends with everyone he meets, grew up in Gongaga, also a watched traitor;

"Genesis Rhapsodos - Twenty-nine, First Class Commander, No weak classes but hated lessons in manners, has no hero but has a hero complex and wishes to out-do Sephiroth one day, grew up in Banora with Angeal, traitor;

"Angeal Hewley - Thirty, First Class Commander, weak in Swordsmanship but strong in hand-to-hand, believes in following his dreams no matter the hardship, one of the few to befriend Sephiroth, Grew up in Banora, traitor;

"Loz, Yazoo, Kadaj - Twenty, triplets, clones of Sephiroth, no rank, call all of Jenova's spawn 'brother', brought up in a lab in Nibelheim, considered missing;

"Sephiroth - Thirty, General, Weak in mannerisms outside of military, brought up in a lab in Nibelheim to be a war machine for Shinra, Jenova's chosen child, traitor and other things besides. Considered extremely dangerous.

"Is this enough proof?"

This was all said in Vincent's unfailing monotone, to the surprise of everyone else.

"I only have one question," Genesis stated. "If you could gain such knowledge, how did you get caught and experimented on?"

"That is a long story, one I do not wish to tell." Vincent's voice brokered no argument. It was silent for a while as everyone digested this information. Then,

"What do you wish from us?"

Sephiroth had never broken the eye contact that Vincent had established, even during Vincent's monologue, so could see the determination that shone in red eyes without barriers.

The man was so like Sephiroth that he could almost tell what he was thinking from what he hid.

It was there, in his eyes, that which he wanted to hide the most: his emotions. It was intriguing to find someone on his emotional level, to say the least.

"Your experience. Although I am older than all of you, I still have little knowledge about the world as it is now. I have not the time to search it all myself."

"Older? You look in your twenties!" Kadaj snorted.

Finally, Vincent turned his gaze on someone other than Sephiroth, landing on Kadaj.

"How long do you believe I was in that lab?"

Kadaj blinked, suddenly uncertain. "A few years?"

Vincent's red eyes narrowed slightly in amusement. "Try thirty."

Surprise was once again evident in the others, even from Sephiroth. Cloud's eyes widened noticeably and his jaw dropped; Zack resembled a gaping fish; Angeal and Genesis had nearly fallen off their love seat; the triplets sat gaping as well; and Sephiroth's eyebrow raised and his eyes narrowed in thought.

"Then your true age would be…?" Sephiroth asked once the shock had worn off.

"Fifty-nine."


	6. Chapter 6: Crazy Introspective

Chapter Six: Crazy Introspective

After the shock had worn down some again, Sephiroth had replied that they needed to think about the proposal and talk among themselves. Vincent understood that this was his dismissal. Pushing off the wall, he walked to the door, showing off his fluid grace. His mobility had returned fully by now and he was using it all as a passive warning. He was far more dangerous than he had let on before.

Stopping before exiting, he turned slightly and looked at Sephiroth. "Do not make the mistake of deciding before you are ready. I shall be traveling somewhere and it will take me a few days. You may take that time to think."

Only waiting long enough for Sephiroth's nod of understanding, he quietly slipped out the door. Once outside, he sighed softly. He wondered if Lucretcia's cave was in the same place in this dimension, and if she was even there. For all he knew, she might not even exist.

Only one way to find out, and since he was going to go that direction anyway, why not fulfill his curiosity? He mentally snorted at the ridiculousness of his thoughts. He was going that way due to his curiosity in the first place, so that previous thought was quite redundant.

He had to wonder if being in the same room as the triplets too long could impair one's thought processes…

Snapping out of his introspective, Vincent realized that he had stood there in front of the doors for ten minutes. He really needed to work on that.

It was going to be a long walk to Nibelheim from where ever this was, so he decided to go looking for a Chocobo stable. They weren't in a town, or even on the border of one. They were on a lonely little hill overlooking a small lake.

Now he was really confused. Why didn't he recognize this lake, or the mansion that looked over it? Was this all just a big variation proclaiming the different dimension? Or had he really missed such a place on his Planet-wide walkabouts?

He _really_ needed to gain access to a computer terminal to get the information he said he had. All that information he told the others had been what he'd gathered back in his world. Luckily, it would seem that their personal information had been the exact same. Well, except for the traitor tags. Most of them had been tagged with "Deceased" in his dimension. He added the "Traitor" tags after he'd overheard one of the Wutain men taunt Cloud and Zack during the fighting -before he'd changed into Chaos.

Great, now his mind was going around in circles. He really _did _need some hard facts, before his mind imploded from the sheer stupidity of it all. And the confusion, and the ridiculousness, and the crazy knife-wielding homicidal maniac running at him with a war cry…

Wait, what?


	7. Chapter 7: Another Short Irony

**Huh, this one happens to be just a little longer than the previous one. Let me know how it's going now that the writer's block's gone again!**

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><p>Chapter Seven: Another Short Irony<p>

Turns out that the maniac had though him a Chocobo thief and was trying to scare him away from the stable. All that based on his dark outfit, sheesh. Vincent found himself with a lot more attitude than he usually had. Luckily, it was still containable, and he had been positively polite to the lady who owned the Chocobo stables. He couldn't say the same of her, but what could he say? Country women had more attitude than Reno on drugs and alcohol mixed. Or at least, that was his experience.

Then again, Tifa had been a country girl…Nope, previous theory still stands.

Aaaaand back to the outside world, where the crazy lady was handing over a beautiful Gold Chocobo for a hefty sum. Seriously, 51,000 gil was too much for any Chocobo, let alone one that was bred by a viscous old lady. Good thing he had enough…from killing all those Wutain. They were surprisingly wealthy for soldiers and ninjas. Maybe they were from some Wutain Noble's private army?

Eh, none of his business in any case. Being around no one but himself would appear to be making his mind wander a bit much. Time to get back into character.

Mumbling a thank you to the evil lady, Vincent hopped into the saddle and started the big bird off into a northern direction. It was too warm here to be more North than Nibelheim, so going in that direction there was a good bet that he'd run into somewhere he recognized eventually. And even if he didn't, he wasn't averse to asking for directions- unlike a certain AVALANCHE leader who shall not be named.

~*0*~

Approximately three days later had Vincent riding into Nibelheim with some new knowledge about _this_ Planet. Amazingly, it wasn't even called Gaia, it was called Gia and it was just as unfair and Mako-happy as Gaia had been. Unsurprisingly, it even had an evil dictator who ran the world through a mix of fear and money. His name was _Hojo_, and that did surprise Vincent. A lot. In fact, Vincent had been tempted to destroy the terminal he'd gotten the information from. Not that it would have done him any good, but it would have made him feel better for the short term.

He'd also confirmed that everything he'd told the SOLDIERs had been correct, plus some. Like the fact that Hojo had sent out his pet _Jenova_ to find and return them. Yeah, he was still getting used to the fact that _this_ Hojo controlled Jenova, and not the other way around.

He wanted a way off this world, and he wanted it now. He much preferred his to this messed up one. At least Lucrecia's cave was still here, he noticed as he walked up the path to its entrance. Perhaps she could give him some insight into the craziness this world seem to revolve around.

And then again, she could be part of it. And the dictator's wife. And Sephiroth's mom, all in one. And so totally NOT IN THE F****ING CAVE!

Perhaps he should learn to expect the randomness in the future


End file.
